1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a disease called COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) has been known. The COPD is a generic term for diseases in which the airway comes to remain occluded over a long time, such as chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema. In the case where chronic inflammation occurs with a lesion in a peripheral airway as an incipient lesion and the inflammation evolves to the peripheral side, so-called emphysema such as destruction of alveoli takes place.
As a method for treatment of COPD, there is a technique called airway bypass, in which air stagnating in a site (lesion part) of emphysema or the like due to a disease is guided to other site through an airway or airways other than the bronchial tube. As the airway bypass, there has been known a procedure in which a vent hole offering communication between the exterior of the patient's body and the inside of lung parenchyma is formed in a patient's chest so that air accumulated in the lung parenchyma is let escape to the exterior through the vent hole (see, for example, Document 1: WO 2009/105455 A1).
Besides, reserve flow paths called bypasses can exist in the lung parenchyma, in addition to the bronchial tubes (see, for example, Document 2: WO 01/010314 A1). Therefore, if a bypass or bypasses are formed and function, air stagnating in a lesion part is sent to the airway bypass and is guided through the airway bypass to the exterior of the patient's body.
However, the bypasses do not always function in the vicinity of the lesion part. Therefore, there may be cases where the air in the lesion part is not sent to the airway bypass and, hence, the airway bypass effect cannot be obtained.